


The Festival

by Badwolf10110



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Adult Sarah Williams (Labyrinth), Alternate Universe, F/M, Fae Magic, Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24166876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Badwolf10110/pseuds/Badwolf10110
Summary: The festival occurs once every nine years, an event Sarah remembers well from her teenage years, yet the face of the man she spent it with is blank in her mind. Nine years on and living in the city she spends her nights watching the stars with a mysterious man that never speaks. Who is he and what will happen at that years festival that fuses man and magic?
Relationships: Jareth/Sarah Williams
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the Labyrinth or it's characters and this is the first story I've ever decided to post. Reviews and feedback are obviously welcome, you can tell me it's crap if that's what you wish. And without boring you to death any longer, here you go

Sarah climbed up onto the apartment roof, she frequently escaped to the calming place which grounded her in the middle of the chaotic city. However, this time it was different. Instead of being all alone, like every other time, there sat a man. A cigarette between his long fingers, grey clouds swirling from his mouth and stretching into the night sky.

Despite her usual reaction of heading back in when faced with someone else there, she felt herself drawn to the man, sitting down next to him. He turned his face to look at her, saying nothing, just studying her before turning back to face the vast blackness of the night that was interrupted only by street lights and zooming cars, but up there, they could see the stars. 

He was thin and tall, blonde hair slicked back with perfect cheekbones and a beautiful jawline, he was what she thought of as perfection and yet they didn't utter a word to one another as they watched the world around them move by. 

The next night was the same and soon they established a pattern, both would be up there, never talking, always looking at the stars and imagining the different worlds that hid behind the shadows of night. 

Certain things changed, like how she would lay her head on his shoulder some nights. Or how sometimes they would lay down instead and she would curl up to him while he played with her dark brown hair. Or even when he sometimes offered her a drag of one of his cigarettes that she was slowly growing accustomed to. It stayed the same yet changed each night.

He seemed other worldly, she didn't think he belonged there, he reminded her of the people she had met at the festival that would happen every nine years in the small village she still called home. The feeling was indescribable but it wasn't human and it wasn't bad. She felt safe with him while feeling power and strangeness in him that she was yet to know. He was such a mystery and she found that she liked it that way.

They hardly saw one another outside of the nights besides when walking past each other in the halls. Her elderly neighbour had mentioned him once or twice when pondering who he was and why he was so mysterious but other than that he remained an odd figure that everyone in the apartment block questioned and wondered about, Sarah included. 

She was to be returning to her family home for about two weeks, she did not mention this to the man, it was hardly like he needed to know and speaking would break the spell that she lay sheltered under, and so their nights continued the same until the day she left. 

When she reached her home town and showed up at her childhood home she was greeted by her overly enthusiastic little brother tackling her to the floor.

The festival was to start at the weekend leaving the little boy who could not remember the last time buzzing with anpicitation. He was a hyperactive ball of energy as he told her about the stories he had heard of the market and demanded to know what she remembered of it. 

The last one had been when she was fifteen, on the last day she had been left in charge of a one year old Toby, something she really hadn't wanted to do, so when a gorgeous man had offered to help she didn't hesitate. This however was a mistake, she spent the next few hours tracking down Toby when he and the man weren't where she had left them to join her friends and wander through the enchanting magic. 

The man had apologised but there was a glint in his eyes, she had heard of them stealing children, the fae that was, and she knew that if she hadn't have found her brother on that day then they would not have had him back. She knew she should have ran from the man but yet he was gorgeous, so very enchanting to her young mind, and so she spent the night dancing with him when she had safely returned the boy to his parents, making sure her mother and father did not see. 

She knew they would find out, and they did, they always did in her town, everybody talked about everyone and she had seen so many of her fellow townsfolk who were in a state of elation on the final magical night. She had even seen a few of the people her age looking on in jealousy. 

The boys always seemed to want her attention, yet she was too immature and childish to notice that, and the girls just wanted to be dancing with the gorgeous fae man that held her in his arms but alas they weren't and it was Sarah there. 

Sarah grew up that night. Gone was the little girl that just wished to play with her toys and read her fantasy books and left in her place was a mature young woman. 

She had grown up and awakened to the guys around her, not that any of them hit the mark which the peculiar fae man had determined. Lithe, blonde, blue eyes, mysterious. Yet that was all she could remember of the man, that and his voice, his face was unknown to her and she couldn't figure out why that was. Maybe it was because it was an old memory, she did not know, but she would find him at the festival, after all, she had a week to do so. How hard could it be?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a beta now so everything should be to a good standard. I had a lot of fun making this chapter, it's much better than the last in my opinion though I'd like to hear your thoughts. Enough from me. Here's chapter two

The week leading up to the festival was filled with a buzz of excitement as more and more visitors appeared, wishing to rent rooms and such.

The townsfolk were preparing, the children that had never attended were being told stories, the teenagers that could remember the magic, colours and dancing set about retrieving dates and talking excitedly, the adults who didn't have partners joined in on this and those that did helped out around the town. 

Sarah found herself avoiding any men, opting to help out, they were the same as before when she had lived there, not ugly, no, but she didn't like any of them. She met up with her old friends when she wasn't helping and baby sat Toby who forced her to tell him stories a countless number of times. He was so unbelievably excited that she found herself growing to that level of eagerness in his presence too. 

Everybody displayed an endless enthusiasm for what would begin on the Saturday, many preparing their own stalls for the grand market that was considered a highlight of the festival. 

You could buy all manners of things; foods that were found nowhere in the world they knew, tasting of the richest flavours, being such a magnificent splendour that they left you craving them for the next nine years until you could have them once more, beautiful ornaments made from wondrous materials with market store owners telling you tales of the hardships they endured to retrieve them, glowing flowers that came in the most beautiful array of colours and would add to the festivities as the blanket of night was draped upon the town and the world around you began to shine, potions and concoctions that could do such marvelous things, kept in obscurely shaped bottles that looked oh-so enticing, small creatures you had only heard of in the wildest of children's tales that every child, besides the inhabitants of that town, had wished and dreamed for... it was truly a sight to behold. 

Now, one might ask what a human could possibly add to this lay out of items from fairytales, and that's truly what it was, fairytale, but humans have much to offer. Items that are considered rarities or even don't exist at all in the fae world, or as they called it, the Underground. For example; a regular packet of crisps, which is no more than a packet of crisps to you or I, is one of the rarest things to be found in the Underground, something they were still trying to figure out how to make and so this market was beneficial to both the fae and the humans and had been for centuries. 

Another feature of this festival that stood in the spotlight was the dancing, the dancing which continued all day and all night, the nighttime being the best time for it. It was true that the days were magical but this was nothing in comparison to the enchantment of the nights. Everything lit up in the most vibrant of colours: sunset oranges and bright yellows, pale pinks and royal blues, vivid purples and aqua greens, it was as if the whole field, where it would take place, was alight and it was hard to imagine a world where this was not so. Can you ever imagine dancing in this beguiling setting? It was even as if the people in attendance themselves glowed and sparkled under the moonlight, especially the fae and their flawless pale skin, almost like a Victorian girls porcelain doll.

The fae, however, were not the only whimsical people in attendance, there were goblins, changelings, tiny fairies, witches, elves, talking animals, dwarves and just a large manner of creatures you had never even set eyes upon, there were regular looking people too, besides the fae that is. Each more and more interesting than the last and each a sight to put even the most nonchalant of people in a state of exhilaration. 

The fact of the matter was that no matter how hard you would try to describe the grandeur of the week to come, you simply couldn't. It was beyond words, beyond what imagination could come up with and not even the brightest of minds would be capable of justifying it all for it was quite positively impossible. It was easier to say that you just had to take the image that has already been conjured up in your mind and try to think of it as so much more. Much brighter. Much more magical. Much more energetic. Much more fantastical in ever way known to man, like all of your best memories compiled into one remarkable place.

Sarah remembered it all too well, and she still felt that her mind did the actual event no justice, missing out details that could only be felt in the moment and never carried in the whispers of a memory. 

Above all Sarah couldn't wait to witness her baby brothers reaction. At ten-years-old he too would remember and crave the sensations again, counting the days until he was nineteen and would be there once more, living in memories that were all too vivid and yet not as alive as he would wish them to be. 

That was the only downside of it all, reality when everything was over. Even at the age of six Sarah had felt it. The waves of depression that crashed over the town when the magic they were only allowed a taster of was snatched away from them once more.

Sarah still liked her life though, even though her current job was pretty low pay, and she struggled to pay the rent for her apartment, she found positives. That man on the roof being one, she had looked forward to seeing him all day back in the city, had enjoyed every second in his presence even if it was in silence, and she didn't really know him, it was comfortable.

So she had two men on her mind, the newly dubbed roof man and the fae. She would find the fae man, knowing all too well that it would probably add up to nothing, but she could always be hopeful, and if all failed, and she didn't find him then she was more than happy to continue her nights with the man who watched the stars with her. 

It was slowly drawing closer. Every minute dragging on, lengthened further by the little boy that kept demanding to go to bed, so they could get closer to the weekend. 

The night before was like Christmas eve, Toby bounced about and went to bed extremely early, Sarah herself found that even she couldn't sleep, and the long hours dragged on forever as she tossed and turned, slowly feeling herself become a zombie as her body begged for sleep that her restless brain would not give. 

She guessed that she did fall asleep at some point, however, because the next thing she remembered was a ten-year-old boy jumping on her childhood bed shouting about it being the festival. 

Sarah was grumpy, naturally, glaring at the boy as she pulled him into the covers with her, telling him to shut up and let her sleep. Toby, of course, did not listen and he squirmed and wriggled his way from her grasp before trying to push her out of bed, this soon turned into a pillow fight and Sarah was very much awake whether she liked the fact or not. Toby definitely did as he dragged her out of bed and told her to get changed. Shouting about being back in the room in a minute.

She pulled on some clothes, of course it was better than some casual attire, it was the festival after all. She opted for one of her old poet blouses, but with a sort of belt like corset that highlighted the natural curves of her body, and her best pair of jeans before Toby burst back in, and ran downstairs with her to put on some shoes before she was pulled outside, being lead to the field. 

It was just as she had remembered only so much better, and so much more magical. It was breathtaking. She absorbed the magic and the creatures, smelling the wondrous scents her nose had sorely missed and letting the sounds she had almost forgotten drift back into her ears. It was then that she looked down at Toby. 

Grinning from ear to ear, Toby soaked it all in like a sponge, the awe evident on his face, curiosity even more so. He had never dreamt of anything quite like what was before him but it was now the only thing he would ever wish to dream of again and Sarah watched as the raw emotion and wonder filtered across her young brother's face, not quite deciding whether she preferred to see everything herself or watch him experience it. She almost couldn't believe she had claimed to hate the boy once as she loved him so unbelievably much at that moment.

Toby finally looked up and grinned at her, tugging on her hand gently before speaking in his young boyish voice, "let's go explore, Sarah." 

With that sentence Sarah's own grin widened as she nodded, they walked in together, going much slower now, taking in everything. Not wanting to miss a single thing that transpired. The festival had begun.


End file.
